Port Lincoln, Australia-headquartered Yumbah Aquaculture’s months-long process of acquiring Eyre Peninsula, Australia-based yellowtail kingfish farmer Clean Seas Sustainable Seafood is now complete, the company announced on LinkedIn on 7 August.
In a post about the deal, reportedly worth AUD 28.1 million (USD 18.3 million, EUR 15.7 million), Yumbah said that the acquisition of Clean Seas “diversifies the business from being solely shellfish to now include finfish.”
It also further boosts the presence of Yumbah, which has acquired shellfish companies Yumbah Sea Farms, Cameron of Tasmanian, Eyre Peninsula Seafoods, and East 33 since 2020, in the Australian seafood sector.
Yumbah, which was founded by a group of entrepreneurs in 1988, began the first commercial abalone farm in Port Lincoln. Now a large company that farms a variety of shellfish all over the country, its acquisition of Eyre Peninsula Seafoods in 2024 made it the nation’s largest producer of both mussels and abalone.
The latest acquisition attempt began in February after Clean Seas, one of the largest producers of yellowtail outside of Japan, announced that it had received an offer for complete acquisition from Yumbah. At the time, Clean Seas’ stock was at an all-time low after high mortalities at the end of 2024 caused the company to reduce its financial outlook.
By 31 March, Clean Seas had announced that it had entered a Scheme Implementation Deed (SID) which would allow Yumbah to acquire its shares for AUD 0.14 (USD 0.09, EUR 0.08) each.
Clean Seas shareholders considered and voted on the proposal on 8 July, with more than 80 percent voting for the acquisition.
The deal received federal approval on 15 July, and Clean Seas' stock was transferred to Yumbah under the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and removed from the Oslo Børs in mid-July.
Yumbah’s post about the news emphasized that Clean Seas is a strong fit for its regionally diverse sustainable seafood portfolio.
“With Yellowtail Kingfish complementing Yumbah’s Greenlip and Tiger Abalone, Blue Mussels, and Pacific and Sydney Rock Oysters, we are proud to offer our world-class, sustainable seafood portfolio to market,” the company’s statement read. “This market scope is reflective of our asset base and production capabilities which span New South Wales (Sydney Rock Oysters), Tasmania (Pacific Oysters), Victoria (Abalone and Mussels), and South Australia (Abalone, Mussels, Oysters, and Kingfish).”
The two companies already shared strong links, with Yumbah Director Anthony Hall, who is the firm's largest shareholder, also holding the controlling stake in Clean Seas, as well as Gary Higgins holding both the Clean Seas directorship role and the directorship and chairman seat at Yumbah.
HWL Ebsworth, Australia’s largest legal partnership, counseled Clean Seas through the acquisition.
